Current Projects
The Elders Project
Contemporary African history has been largely informed by colonial structures. Most of Africa’s history has been written from the perspective of colonial administrators. The result of this phenomenon has been the continued privileging of written accounts of historical events in Africa’s development at the expense of oral history and first-hand accounts from Africans. This prioritizing of written archival history has led to the erasure of the memories and lived experiences of Africans regarding key moments in Africans development.
We seek to redress this injustice through the Elders Project, a project that aims to collect the stories and first-hand account of Africans in the Diaspora and on the continent with the goal of giving a voice to those who have been traditionally marginalized. We believe that through this project, we can give finally center the lived experiences of Africans in historical accounts and address this historical injustice. For more information on the Elders Project, please visit: www.africaneldersproject.org.
Queer Exile Project
Context: Recently Uganda passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act, a law that criminalizes same sex sexuality and sexual minority activism in the country. In addition to life imprisonment for same sex conduct, the new law increases prison time for “attempt at same-sex conduct” (Human Rights Watch 2023). Uganda’s new law is informed by similar laws being passed in a number of African countries including Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia (Bhandari 2023). These laws build upon existing penal codes that are widely viewed as legacies of colonialism. More than half of the 54 countries in Africa have some laws that criminalize homosexuality (BBC News 2023). At the forefront of efforts to reverse these laws are organizations like Sexual Minorities of Uganda, whose successes include reversing Uganda’s 2009 Anti-homosexuality Act. These organizations and activists are pivotal in cementing human rights in the Global South and we seek to support their efforts.
Project Details: In light of these developments, we plan to implement the Queer Exile Project, a project that seeks to document the stories of queer Africans displaced as a result of laws that criminalize homosexuality. Through story-telling and photography, we hope to bring greater attention to these laws while highlighting the important work of activists and local civil society organizations fighting for sexual minority rights in Africa.
References:
Bhandari, Aditi. “Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill Is the Latest and Worst to Target LGBTQ Africans.” Reuters, April 7, 2023. https://www.reuters.com/graphics/UGANDA-LGBT/movakykrjva/.
Human Rights Watch. “Ugandan Parliament Passes Extreme Anti-LGBT Bill,” March 22, 2023. https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/03/22/ugandan-parliament-passes-extreme-anti-lgbt-bill.
BBC News. “Homosexuality: The Countries Where It Is Illegal to Be Gay.” April 20, 2018, sec. World. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-43822234.
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